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I'm no expert but it doesn't look quite right for a mill wheel hub. It might be a capstan attached to the wheel and used to transfer the power. Is the wooden "floor" in the picture a sluice? Is there a mine (shaft) or quarry near by?

I think it's probably part of the inside of the mill power transfer. Inside the building connected to the shaft from the waterwheel there was sometimes a large mostly wood from the pictures I have seen a device, equivalent of a large gear, that transfer power to the mill. Of course, they probably did thing differently in different parts of the country and time periods.

It's easier to fool people than to convince them that they have been fooled. Mark Twain

This is only a guess and not made with any knowledge of water wheel power for a mill, but, from the picture, the end of the shaft looks like it is smaller and smoother than the rest of the shaft which makes me think that the end rode in, what today would be a bearing, but, not sure what it would have rode in back then. I am thinking that the center wood use to be the paddles that the water ran over and I am guessing the other end, that is buried, is also a shaft like the end that is exposed.

Just guessing and nothing more....

Warren
Fly fishing and fly tying are two things that I do, and when I am doing them, they are the only 2 things I think about. They clear my mind.

I think I am guilty of assuming that since Len found this thing there is water near by. Going with that line of thinking I found a schematic of a water powered sawmill from days gone by. In the center is a piece that could have been this chunk of wood and steel.Water powered mill 2a.jpg

It's easier to fool people than to convince them that they have been fooled. Mark Twain

After looking at the photo further, I am more convinced it is what is labeled a pulley on the schematic I found. If you look you can see a few inches from the end of the wood the diameter is slight less than the ends, a couple of wide leather drive belts would have done that over time. It would be heavy enough to serve as a flywheel to a lesser degree than a solid steel or iron would, but I will bet the bolts, end plates and shafts were purchased from a mill back east somewhere and the wood added in the local area.

It's easier to fool people than to convince them that they have been fooled. Mark Twain